Hi, Am a low-tech person--what is the difference between +R and -R. We bought a Toshiba -R / VHS recorder. We record a copy from our home videos (8 mm) to a DVD, which plays back fine on our DVD player, but won't play back on anyone elses. The guys at Best Buy said that to view the DVDs that I made, the people watching would have to view it on a -R and would not be able to see on a +R....this does not sound correct to me--is it? any feedback would be appreciated! Thanks!
The manufacturers of DVD recording devices have been unable to agree on a universal recording standard. Some support DVD+R/W others DVD-R/W As a rather crude analogy, consider it similar to the difference between standard VHS and SVHS. Most SVHS tapes will not play on VHS machines although they will fit in the tape slot. This creates a dilemma for the consumer. From what I have read and based on my own experience DVD-R will play on almost all DVD players of recent vintage and on some older units. DVD+R is generally less compatible. There are sites that exhaustively explain the technical differences but they escape me at the moment. Do a Google search if you are interested.
Did you finalize the disc? They have to be finalized to play in players. If you did finalize, try better media. I've used many different DVD players and have yet to find one that won't play DVD-R discs. I did see a post from someone else saying Toshiba recorded discs weren't compatible with many DVD players, might just be a problem with Toshiba recorders.
Thanks! No, did not finalize the discs--this is probably the problem!!! Is it too late to put them back in and finalize it, or am I going to have to record again? Thanks--I am admittedly VERY ignorant when it comes to home electronics as you can guess! Kathy
You can still finalize the discs. Just put the disc back in and go into the menus and find the finalize option. You can keep recording on discs until they are finalized, you don't have to do all the recording on a disc in one session. Once a DVD-R is finalized it can't be recorded on again.